Reviews by DersOne:

More User Reviews:

Appearance – This shows the requisite orangish-brown color with a nice, moderate head that left some decent lacing.

Smell – The hops are huge here at the nose but not like a dry-hopped beer. There is some strong grapefruit, fresh pine, and a light floral character. The malts are almost absent but should step things up at the taste.

Taste – The malt does take it up one small notch here with some added caramel sugar but hops dominate the flavor. It’s a very strong grapefruit taste with a pine that’s almost pepperminty and lots of bitter leaf notes.

Mouthfeel – This is a big medium-bodied with bone wrenching bitterness. I like the thick, slick feel of the beer but was a bit put off with the bitterness in this style.

Drinkability – This is definitely a sipping beer that was a little blunt for my preference. I think the balance missed the mark but otherwise it wasn’t bad.

Thanks to Ataraxia for this extra. Hop Dam pours a completely opaque color that lies somewhere between light-copper and swampy-brown. Murky to the core and obviously unfiltered, the off-white cap retains well for a brew with higher alcohol content and leaves an extremely generous amount of fat and sticky lacing along the sides of the glass. Even once the beer is gone, some white lace remains near the top.

I stick my face into the glass and my nose is hit immediately with a bunch of sweet malts. I find this problem (although I don't know if it should be considered a "problem" per se) often with "Triple" IPAs or IPAs that are "over the edge"... the malt bill must be large enough to stand up to the crazy overload of hops, and in turn, the beer becomes more of a sweet malty concoction rather than a hop-heavy bitter bruiser. The initial whiff of Hop Dam seems to be leading me down this road.

There are definitely some sticky citrus aromas, along with a light pungency of pine and floral hops, but there's no mistaking the huge malt backbone in this one. Lots of caramel, toffee, and butterscotch aromas that actually outplay the hops by quite a bit. Very sweet and almost candy-like to the nostrils. It doesn't smell bad, but I don't know if I wan't my IPAs to smell like this exactly.

As expected, the first sip induces a great amount of bread, toasted caramel, and super huge toffee flavors into my palate. The beer is quite heavy; sticky and thick and borderline chewy, which plays even more into the hands of the heavy malt bill. Hops are sadly secondary, but they do eventually surface once the initial malt-shock mellows out and subsides. They have a lightly citric, but mostly earthy character.

The bitterness provided by the hops barely puts a dent in the sweetness from the malt. I wouldn't go so far as to call Hop Dam "cloying", but I certainly don't want my IPA to be this sweet. Once the taste of the earthy, dirty, mildly-citric hops fades, the aftertaste is left with the leftover malt flavors. The palate finishes with big-time caramel and toffee that coats your taste buds to the (not-so-bitter) end. A little more lively carbonation would have help the thick, sticky mouth feel on this one.

It's not like this beer was offensive or tough to put down, but it doesn't really qualify as much of an IPA to me, let alone a "triple" IPA. I don't care how many hops actually went into the brew kettle - when a beer contains this much malt sweetness coming through in the final flavor profile, you are out of IPA territory. In my opinion, just a "meh" beer on almost every front - nothing exciting happening here, especially not for IPA lovers.

22oz bottle. Pours a hazy reddish copper with a medium creamy off white head that goes to a thin film and leaves some lacing.

The aroma is sweet sugary melon and catty, resiny hops with some alcohol as it warms.

The flavor is some sweet fruity malts followed by a huge hop bang in the finish - very resiny and kind of catty and tarry. The alcohol is pretty well hidden. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low creamy carbonation.

Bomber pours a chill hazed honey amber body with a medium sized offwhite head. Good retention and some patchy lace rings the glass.

Aroma is sharply hops, as pine and grapefruit notes run rampant on the olfactories. Toasty caramel hints of a softening base for the mega hop assault.

Mouthfeel is medium in body and carbonation and has a resinous hop presence.

Taste is clean and savory. Robust hop presence serves up pine, grassiness, big grapefruit, and even a hint of florals. Just enough of a toasty caramel maltiness to even things out. Alcohol is hidden pretty well.

This one features a really excellent presentation of the hop bill. Nothing here really jumps out and says "triple IPA", but it's certainly a well done Double. Thanks to mntlover for sharing this bottle.

L: Brilliant, deep amber, 1-2” frothy foam cap
S: resiny, minty hops
T: Starts rich and malty and then intense hops come on board leading to an alcoholic finish that suggests whiskey. There is some caramel supporting the hops and alcohol and there is also some vanilla. Some citrus in the hops, especially citrus rind and layers of malt.
F: Creamy, medium full body and medium low carbonation.
O: Very intense but very well done.

Pours a cloudy bronze color out of the 22oz bomber. There are yeasty floaters suspended in the body of the beer. The two finger white head is thick and leaves plenty of trails of large-bubbled lacing.

The smell is dry, more woody than piny, very pleasing to the olfactory senses.

The taste--I know this is a hop bomb, and I love hop bombs and include Bell's Hopslam as one of my faves beers in the world (if not the fave). Yet, I think one is a bit overbearing and kind of a one-trick pony. It's very phenolic, plenty of cherry cough syrup and dirty band-aid but not as much of the pine and citrus notes I enjoy so much in other hop bombs.

On the mouth you get a bit of a sweet syrupy kick on the front, then it dries out into a woody finish with a slight metallic, battery-like finish.

Appears a bright copper amber when poured into my Allagash chalice, off white khaki off white head forms thick after a vigorous pour. I can tell the body is a bi viscous after the pour and carbonation has a hard time keeping up with the loads of malt and hops pushed into this beer. Fine even speckled patterns of lacing with each sip form on the sides of my glass.

Aroma has a strong assaulting onslaught of hops going on including fresh cut green onions and strong aromatic citrus peels. This reminds me a lot of Green Flash DIPA, a bit of pungent Mary Jane and tropical fruit tones blend in as well. Alcohol comes through amongst the wave of hops, malts do back up the hops but this one has potential to burn nostril hairs.

Flavor has an abusive level of hop bitterness and flavor. Raw herbaceous hops collide with booze to provide quite the unbalanced beast, which is what your going for with a Triple IPA. Hop pellets loads hit the palate with Grapefruit rinds, pine, and more green onion. It almost numbs the palate, so much that the balance between the malts and hops is completely abolished even in the hoppiest brews around I love for there to be some harmony rolling between the barrage of hop bitterness/flavors with the malts and alcohol. This one hits me with the booze and hop abrasiveness, and that pretty much sticks around. My palate is shot for further drinking and savoring of any other brews for the evening. Really not an enjoyable experience going on here.

Mouthfeel, this brew numbs the palate with hop bitterness and alcohol burn, it doesn't hide the 10% abv at all this is a booze bomb. Between those two abrasive qualities it doesn't make for a pleasant experience, carbonation I have no complaints with but the alcohol burn in my nares and on my breath doesn't do it for me. There are plenty of DIPAs out there that have the same alcohol without the abrasive fusel quality.

Drinkability overall is pretty poor too damn extreme for it's own good, throwing loads of hops and malts doesn't always equate to good beer. I love most of this small brewer's efforts but this one most definitely strikes out with me, at a beerfest a couple years back I drank silk porter ran through a tower of coffee beans and it was mindblowingly drinkable and flavorful at the same time.

Pours a deep copper color with a 1.5-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of loads and loads of pine, citrus, and tropical fruit hops with light hints of pale malts and lighter hints of vanilla.

Tastes similar to how it smells. A surprisingly sturdy malt backbone that tastes partly of pale malts and partly of caramel malts serves as the background for a smorgasbord of hop flavors. As with the smell tropical fruit, citrus, and pine are all there but citrus and tropical fruit are more prevalent than they are in the nose. A mild amount of dryness begins midway through the sip and stays constant through to a solidly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is great. It's got a very nice thickness with smooth and grainy carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. I finished my glass quickly and could very easily have another.

Overall I thought this was very close to being a great beer however it was missing just a bit of balance. Still, as it is it's very well worth trying, though slightly less so because of the expensive price tag.

Bomber from Bruisin' Ales.Smells and tastes pure grapefruit juice hops. Most pleasant well done DIPA. Big head that takes a while to settle.Surprisingly good mouthfeel, with caramel sweetness balanced the bitterness.Well carbonated.Yes, some pineapple.

Hop Dam pours a light rust color. It looks mostly clear, and it's slightly red when held to light. An off-white, vanilla looking head crowns the top. It rises to maybe a finger, and falls quickly. Too much abv? Perhaps. Lacing was sticky and quite substantial.

The nose isn't very strong. It kicks off with a blend of the citrus usuals (grapefruit, orange, and pineapple). Indeed the hops are primarily citric, but feature some light floral and pine notes. It smells like some of the edge might have been shaved off the hops by the strong presence of caramel malt. Oh yeah, it's here. Sweet and sugary it is. It's tough to tell how the malt/hop war will shake out, but it smells pretty well balanced. Alcohol isn't very noticeable.

The flavor isn't all that interesting. Definitely not as good as I'd hoped. It kicks off with a sweet, sugary mix of caramel and toffee flavors. No big surprise there. Hops follow and give it a nice citrus blast of orange, grapefruit, and pineapple. Maybe even a little mango. The hop flavor is tasty, and it has certain degree of bitterness. But, the malts really degrade the hop effect to a large degree. There's some residual bitterness in the aftertaste, but there's some caramel sweetness too. It's not bad, but it's a little too balanced for me. I still don't quite get the 'Triple IPA' concept. Alcohol is blended well. It's slightly noticeable in taste, but isn't warm. It finishes slightly bitter and sweet.

Hop Dam has a medium body. Carbonation is light and restrained. It is smooth and has a nice feel. Drinkability is above average. The flavor's alright, but isn't great by any stretch. I guess it goes down easy for a 10% beer, but I'm not overly enjoying it. I'll finish the bomber, but that's more than enough.

I'm starting to believe that Triple IPAs just aren't my thing. Hop Dam certainly doesn't have a shortage of hops, but it has an over-abundance of malt that counters the hops' effect. It seems that that's the formula for Triple IPAs. I'm yet to find one that I really love. Hop Dam's alright. It's definitely worth a try. But, it doesn't hold a candle to Mean Manalishi. If you're looking for a relentlessly bitter DIPA, go for that one. If you're more in the market for a big, sweet DIPA (or Triple IPA, if you will) that has nice hop flavor and balance, this might be your beer.

Had nice sample of this amazingly hoppy new Triple IPA with Fred Karm, owner / brewmeister extraordinaire of Hoppin' Frog....on "pre-release" day Friday Feb 12...poured from bomber into glass for tasting sample at brewery.

"Wow" does not begin to cover this one, total hop bomb, but so drinkable, nice citrus / grapefruit smell, taste....4 different hops in this massive 10% abv IPA, including the nice Amarillo and Summit hops...great thing about this one, is how drinkable it is, not overwhelming at all, goes down smooth and easy, alcohol hidden well...I would say this is one of the best representations of a total masterfully made super Imperial Triple IPA, I have ever been so fortunate to drink!

Mouthfeel is great, perfect balance of hop bitterness, and aroma....would be so easy to down a whole 22 oz bomber quickly, but trust me, you will want to go slow and savor this delicious and amazing beer....Fred got this one sooo right! I am so lucky to live in Akron!

Appearance is a lovely golden yellow, with perfect carbonation and head of hoppy foam!

After having sampled a wide variety of IPA's, regular and DIPA's lately, this one blows them all away....kudos to Hoppin' Frog, and all hail Fred, king of hops in these parts! Seek this one out, you will not be dissappointed!